Recent comments in /f/books

Shadow_Lass38 t1_jdykf0f wrote

Reply to This one by LM Montgomery did not age well by Bookanista

Bigotry toward minority groups was sadly common in those days. It's an Italian organ grinder who tries to kidnap Phronsie in The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew.

It was very common then for women that age to marry older men. Since women were supposed to be married and raise children, they needed to be young and healthy, but, if they wanted to live well and have a nice home and clothing and send their kids to good schools they had to marry an older man who was "established" in business and could make a good salary. Ten and fifteen year age gaps were not uncommon.

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Gawdam_lush t1_jdyho3u wrote

Reply to What to do if Library book is lost? by iNick20

I think they will ask you to pay a certain amount or purchase the book and bring the new copy in.

It sounds like in this case it will be cheaper to pay what the library is asking .

From what I remember there is a limit that they can charge you.

If you pay this off before racking up late fees, then find the book later, you can bring it in and (at least at my local branch) they give you the price of the book back minus the actual late fees.

So, whatever you do, take care of it asap because the late fees are what get you in the end

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BethLP11 t1_jdyhb0s wrote

Reply to This one by LM Montgomery did not age well by Bookanista

Yeah, I read that one. DEFINITELY not her best.

Also? "A Tangled Web" which had a lot I found interesting because it was written post-WWI? Ends with a character using the N-word in reference to a figurine. YIKES.

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Gawdam_lush t1_jdygjdn wrote

Reply to Donna Tartt and John Irving by shnoogle111

I believe that goldfinch had two stories in one book that should have been two books.

It’s possible that because she was an acclaimed writer, her editor might not have wanted to change too much, but I would have taken out a huge chunk of the book.

Want to know this crazy theory I have? Her book was actually the story with pippa and her brother.

And the stuff that happened in Las Vegas and the stuff with the opiate abuse and the whole story line with Boris? That was all someone else’s story. My theory is that she might have met someone who she stole a journal from, and she added stuff from this journal into her own book. Possibly the journal belonged to a dead junkie.

The writing style is completely different from the rest of the book and in my opinion, the only part of the book that was any good. It was also too real. Unless Tart struggled with heroin addiction, I feel like she couldn’t have described the feeling that Theo felt in the hotel room.

The stolen masterpiece is a metaphor for the stolen story.

In an interview she said that she was going to focus more on Platt (pipas brother) which tells me that she doesn’t even realize how incredibly boring that character is and doesn’t realize that the real story was between Theo and Boris.

Makes sense though that she would have wanted to focus more on platt and his mom. Being from a wealthy family and being wealthy herself, she obviously would have more to say about them than the very interesting Boris, who seems so real I have a hard time believing he was purely fictional.

This is just a crazy theory I came up with while reading this monster of a story. Could be totally off.. but it’s interesting to think about

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Gawdam_lush t1_jdyd79g wrote

Reply to How to develop a habit of reading: Tips and Tricks by REalWaffel8806

I think it’s better to start with a short book that you know you can read in a couple of days.

here are some good short books

  • of mice and men
  • convenience store woman
  • the metamorphosis
  • the little prince
  • frankenstein
  • do androids dream of electric sheep

finishing that first book can be a great motivator. So reading a book you know you can easily finish is good.

also, short stories are a good start

  • yellow wallpaper
  • minority report
  • all of the stories in “me talk pretty one day”
  • no one belongs here more than you
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ahrya t1_jdybmco wrote

Reply to Cancelled books? by FaithlessnessOdd9006

Book # 4 of the Half Blood Chronicles by Mercedes Lackey and Andre Norton was contracted to be published but never did. I've read that when Andre Norton died there were rights issues and that's why book 4 was never finished. I loved those books as a teen and am still bummed about it all these years later.

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Disparition_2022 t1_jdy9h8y wrote

Reply to Cancelled books? by FaithlessnessOdd9006

I used to work for a mediocre publisher that did a lot of tv-to-book stuff, like novels written by the (fictional character) Richard Castle from the tv show Castle, etc. Those Castle books, at least the first couple, were best sellers so some people in leadership got it into their heads that this was a cash cow. But most of those kinds of projects didn't do well or never even got off the ground, At one point we were meeting with Proctor and Gamble and an ad agency that worked with them talking about creating a "novel" (and potential series!) written by a character from Old Spice commercials. Honestly the whole thing was fucking embarrassing, luckily everyone realized after the first couple proposals that this was a terrible idea and the whole thing was dropped. Unless they later went to another publisher and actually did this shit, but I'm guessing not because the "virality" of those particular commercials dried up real fast.

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